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PROJECTS

  • Hip Hop based Peace Building Program in Bogotá, Colombia (2015):

As a recipient of the USAID Research & Innovation Global Development Fund at UC Berkeley, I worked as a consultant with La Familia Ayara, a non-profit organization based in Bogotá, Colombia, which works with youth through programs based in hip hop and other art forms. I designed a peace building program for youth in an urban setting. The program consisted on workshops around themes related to peace building and conflict resolution, and the workshops were implemented through a format that the youth expressed an appreciation for: hip hop. The workshops were offered by experienced hip hop instructors, based on the Peace Building Manual I developed for the agency.

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  • Spanish classes for Brain Injury Survivors (2010-2012):

While working as a Program Assistant at Jodi House, a brain injury center in Santa Barbara, CA, I started a Spanish class for survivors of brain injuries. The Spanish classes not only consisted of basic writing, reading, grammar, and conversational skills, but also focused on cultural aspects of the immigrant population in the U.S., as well as on different aspects of societies and cultures throughout Latin America. I obtained a grant from the Santa Barbara Foundation in order to fund this project. I also developed outreach to the local Latin@ population in order to expand the services being provided by Jodi House. (See article by Marco Carranza from Santa Barbara Latino, main newspaper in Spanish in Santa Barbara County).

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  • Automatic Report Cards Translations Database (2012) :

While working as a Spanish Interpreter/Translator, worked in collaboration with the Certified Personnel Specialist Database Administrator and the Assistant Superintendent of the Goleta Union School District (GUSD) in developing a system to automatically translate report card comments. This system not only benefited those teachers that needed report card comments translated into Spanish, but also facilitated the work of other teachers who did not need comments translated, by providing check boxes in the database for the comments that appeared most frequently in report cards.

PUBLICATIONS

  • Setting the Stage for Family Reunification (2020) 

Co-Author of article, Setting the Stage for Family Reunification, published in the peer-reviewed journal, Child & Family Social Work. This article explores roles that community-based services providers play when working with families involved in the child welfare system and how parents may employ different impression management skills when interacting with child welfare social workers. 

  • AB429 Linkages (2016) 

As a MSW Intern at San Francisco Human Services Agency, I worked on a research project on family reunification rates among families on AB429 Linkages, a program that serves families on Cal-Works with open child welfare cases. I co-authored a research paper, along with the Senior Data Analyst, presenting the findings and recommendations based on our study. The study consisted of a longitudinal mixed-method study, involving statistical data analysis, as well as qualitative research. A summary of this research was published in the Apr-June 2016 (Vol. 18) Child & Family Policy Institute of California (CFPIC) Newsletter - Keeping Linked (see pages 5-6).​

  • The Case of the Peruvian Blackface: Portrayals & Stereotypes of Afro-Peruvians in the Media (2012)

Author of Chapter 15, The Case of the Peruvian Blackface, in the title Converging Identities: Blackness in the Modern African Diaspora, which consists of 16 essays analyzing the issues of blackness and identity of the African Diaspora in a global perspective. This chapter was based on a research carried out between 2008-2012, and mostly based on my M.A. thesis, which won award for the best M.A. thesis in Latin American & Iberian Studies in UC Santa Barbara in 2010. This research consisted on qualitative analyses on race, media, and humor in Peru, as well as historical research, where I focused on the origin and influences of blackface and comic strips portrayals of Afro-Peruvians. I argue that the portrayals and representations of blacks in Peru are heavily influenced by U.S. blackface comedy shows and cartoons from the first half of the 20th century, but adopted to a different reality, culture, and humor. My research also focused on the effects and consequences that these portrayals, which are still present in current Peruvian media, have on the Afro-Peruvian population and Peruvian society.

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  • Collaboration in Sociology textbook (2004) 

Collaborated with Bakersfield College Sociology Professor and co-author, Mita Dhariwal, in co-authoring and editing a Sociology textbook, Understanding Sociology - First Edition (Horizon Textbook Publishing, 2004).

PRESENTATIONS

  • The Experience of Sharing Linked Psychotropic Medication Data with Counties (2016) 

Copresented, along with the Senior Data Analyst of the City & County of San Francisco Human Services Agency, for the California Child Welfare Council Data Linkage & Information Sharing Committee on the benefits of sharing psychotropic medication data with county child welfare agencies (see Agenda).

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  • Immigration in the U.S.A. (2006) 

Presentation for the International Research/Exchange Board (IREX), Minsk, Belarus

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